


Abandon Hope

by LexisRage



Category: Naruto
Genre: 'Abandoned' Mansion, Blood, Definately character death, Demons, Even creepier ghosts, Good luck sleeping tonight, Gore, Horror, Other, Possible Character Death, creepy children, on second thought
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-01
Updated: 2015-02-04
Packaged: 2018-03-09 23:36:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3268514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LexisRage/pseuds/LexisRage
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What was to be a routine mission to find vandals who had broken into the old abandoned mansion turns out to be a hellish nightmare that none of the five ninja will soon forget. Not ten minutes after arriving in the deceptively large building, our hero's find out that their use of Jutsu is somehow disrupted; any sense of direction is all but lost in the ever changing halls; and there is no way out. The night quickly gives way to a deadly haunting and dangerous tricks that will scar their minds forever. Can our ninja figure out the trick to the mansion in time to make it out alive?</p><p>Includes Supernatural Themes, Murder, Suicide, Gore, Violence, Strong Language, and lots of blood. Not for the faint of heart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Disaster Falls

**Author's Note:**

> Here's the prologue into the series.

Pain. Pain was his world, now. It spoke for him in the screams torn from his worn throat. It listened for him so he didn't have to strain to hear the cruel world outside his torment. It breathed for him, so he wouldn't have to take in anything but the coppery scent flooding his nostrils and mouth. But most of all, it lived for him; for as long as he was in pain, surely he could not be dead. The pain was his friend when all else had abandoned him to his fate; it lived and breathed and spoke, all for him. The pain was selfless, never asking anything more than company in return for such a boon. He had conquered the pain, and in return, it had allowed him existence and forgiveness. Or perhaps, it gave him forgetfulness, instead. He no longer knew who he was, and he no longer cared. His past, his future, his present; nothing mattered. Simply that he was.

And he was.

*~*~*~* A Few Days Earlier *~*~*~*

Naruto's jaw became slightly slack at the sight before him. A large castle like tower loomed before him and his friends, the large moon cast behind it and painted an odd, sickly color red. It was eerie to say the least, but not a single person trembled in awe or fear before it. Later that day, Naruto, Sasuke, Neji, Shikamaru, and Kiba had been assigned a D rank mission; figure out who had broken and entered into the abandoned mansion. It was a simple enough, up front mission. The Lord Hokage had picked personally the five ninja for the job; five, just in case something went wrong in apprehending whomever it was.

Shikamaru, funnily enough, was the only one to protest the job, complaining of how it would cut into his sleep for the night.

And so it was that the five ninja set off toward the abandoned mansion at the very outskirts of the Hidden Leaf Village. By the time they arrived, night had already fallen, painting the sky a peaceful black, though not a one of them could pinpoint a single star in the open, cloudless sky. Perhaps the intense glow of the full moon blotted them out as it cast an odd glow over the vast expanse of the completely brick, slightly destroyed mansion. Here and there, bricks lay in abandon on the poorly cared for garden, overgrown and decaying all the same. Windows were cracked and in some areas, completely broken out, with shards of such unwanted glass strewn across the perimeter of the mansion, directly underneath the destroyed windows. Thorn bushes and vines all but swept away the path to the ornate double doors leading in, though Sasuke made short work of the shriveled excuse for shrubbery with a Fire Ball Jutsu.

As the fire burned back the long, thorn filled vines, it lit up what the moon could not; graffiti painted lewdly on the broken bricks both fallen and still holding their place on the mansion walls. Strange spots of darkened color splashed across the door and the concrete steps leading up to it, and pale bones scattered haphazardly across the umber colored lawn. When there was nothing left for the fire to consume, it extinguished itself for lack of incentive to continue on, leaving five pairs of eyes staring at the now ominous outlay.

Sasuke was the first to notice the curtain move on the fourth story's left turret, and pointed it out soundlessly to the others. Strangely enough, it seemed that realizing the reason why they were here was staring them in the face motivated them to move past the destruction that lay surrounded at their feet, venturing blindly into the unknown to complete what should have been a simple mission. As they entered the mansion, none of the group noticed the curtain being gently replaced to its previous point, nor the sinister fog that began to drift in from the west, slowly coating the entire estate grounds. Nor did they notice the way the heavy iron door they had left moderately open slowly, silently, began to swing shut on its own.

No, the only things that alerted them that something more complicated might perhaps be afoot, was when darkness suddenly overtook them, casting what had been lit by the outside into pure blackness, and the sudden, drained feeling that stabbed at the heart of them all. Then just as suddenly as things had seemed to go wrong, every light in the mansion seemed to flicker on, illuminating the five ninja in their surprise.

"What the hell just happened?" came Naruto's astonished cry.

"I… couldn't say." Neji responded, his eyes glancing around the room in a slow, methodical manner. "I've never experienced something quite like that before."

Neji's search left him with nothing but perhaps more questions, however. On the outside, the mansion looked every bit its old age; crippled, decaying, listless. But on the inside, the floors sparkled as though they had been waxed just that morning. All of the lights were in perfect working order, the walls were spotless and frighteningly enough, the window that he had noticed from the outside to be completely broken out was as perfect as if installed just the day before. Obviously, Neji was not the only one to notice this detail, it seemed. Sasuke shifted over to the window, gently placing his hand on the glass as if it were an illusion and would slip right on through into the night air. But his flesh met the cool glass and stopped, unable to go any further.

Around the same time, Shikamaru was studying the door with a look of apprehension. How could something so large and heavy, that took them nearly five minutes to get open, shut so soundlessly? And on its own, no less.

"I've got a bad feeling about this place…" Shikamaru voiced, still eyeing the door suspiciously.

Kiba found himself about to agree with Shikamaru when a whimper from atop his head caught his attention. His hand reflexively went up to gently pet Akamaru's head in a comforting gesture, but it didn't seem to help. Kiba pulled down his hood and helped Akamaru down from his perch, only to find the poor dog trying to bury its way back into Kiba's jacket. His eyes widened slightly at Akamaru's odd behavior, but the pup didn't seem to bother saying why he was acting this way. So instead, Kiba gently helped his dog into the top half of his jacket where the zipper stopped, almost to his neck, Akamaru's head hanging out the top.

"Yeah, I think you're right, Shikamaru. Maybe we should just get out of here, go tell Lady Hokage or something, let someone else do this." Kiba spoke, as he moved with a long stride toward the double doors, his hands outstretched to grab the large, brass rings that served as handles.

Naruto scoffed at Kiba's actions, turning up his nose slightly even as a smirk crawled across his lips. He was probably the one out of the five who was the most afraid of the situation they were in, but of course, he would never let them see it. As his hands linked behind his head, he laughed out his remark even as Kiba pulled on the door's handle.

"What's the matter, mutt? Running away already? A haunted house gonna scare you back to mommy?"

"Oh, shut it, Naruto!" Kiba retorted, casting a glare over his shoulder as he tugged on the door.

Nothing happened. Kiba heard Naruto laugh and say something else, but exactly what he said went right over the top of Kiba's head. He paused, looking at the door, before redoubling his efforts, putting his entire weight and strength into pulling the iron door open. Still, nothing.

"Um… guys…?" Kiba was slightly horrified to find that his voice was shaking slightly, and that no one was listening to him.

Instead, it seemed they had gotten into a debate with Naruto, arguing over his comments and such. Kiba, who's heart had begun to beat faster, turned back to the door. Feeling frantic, he gripped the brass ring with both of his hands and placed his left foot on the door that he wasn't trying to open, using the added force to try and help. When that didn't work, he lifted himself completely off the ground, both feet on the other door as he yanked for all he was worth. The iron door never budged an inch.

The sound of Kiba's strain finally caught the attention of the quarreling group behind him, and despite Naruto's sarcastic comment about Kiba being weak, it wasn't long until everyone shared in Kiba's horror. Even when all five of the capable ninja combined their efforts to open the door, they found it was stuck by some invisible force that couldn't be thwarted by just pulling on it. Naruto was the one who first suggested just destroying the door, and it was a shaken up Kiba who challenged Naruto to be the one to do it.

With a 'Hmph', Naruto waved the rest of them to step back, and began to focus his chakra. His plan was simple; a Clone Jutsu and a head on assault. Strangely enough, after three times, Naruto couldn't even get the Jutsu to come close to working. After minutes of just standing there, Kiba taunted, though the fear was obviously evident in his voice,

"Now who's scared, huh…?"

But Naruto didn't rise to the challenge. Instead, he challenged everyone else to try and perform a Jutsu to break down the door; it didn't take them long to realize that for some reason, nothing worked. No matter what anyone did, Jutsu simply could not be performed. This realization was the first to collectively frighten the entire group, and in a scared daze, Kiba dashed to the window Sasuke had previously tested, slamming his fist against it with such force that the glass should have shattered in an instant. Instead, what happened shocked everyone into stillness.

With an ominous purple light, Kiba's fist was thrust back, as was Kiba himself; he landed on the polished floor and skidded back a few feet, a surprised, panicked gasp falling from his lips. The window remained whole and unbroken, without so much as a fingerprint. It was only then that the five ninja began to realize exactly what danger they had become trapped in. But there was absolutely no way that any of them could ever imagine just what was to happen to them in that supposedly abandoned mansion.


	2. Mysterious Happenings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The abandoned mansion turns out to be something none of the ninja expected. Is it a true haunting, or is it something more... demonic in nature?

Kiba's curses rang out in the large, open foyer. The window… hit him. Or at least, it had felt like it. There was a burning feeling in his stomach, as well as a painful sting that signaled the quick arrival of a nasty bruise. Still, it didn't stop him jumping to his feet, afraid the floor would somehow do the same as the window had. But everything remained still after that. Everything but his chest, which was rapidly rising and falling with his frantic breathing. This was supposed to be a simple mission; a SIMPLE one! Now they were locked in, with no way out, and-

"Kiba!" Shikamaru cried, earning a startled stare from the boy and his dog. "Now isn't the time to panic."

When Kiba started to interrupt, Shikamaru raised his hand in a well known gesture to let him finish. He took pity on the guy, but at this crucial moment, to panic was to dig the hole deeper, and Shikamaru knew this lesson all too well. He continued with an even tone of voice, despite his own growing dread,

"Obviously, there's something going on that's a little more complicated than what we first thought. I don't want to risk having whatever happened with you and the window to any of us, so for sanity's sake, I'll assume we're completely locked into this house. Our only logical solution is to continue on with the mission; figure out who inhabits this mansion and get them to let us out, because they can come and go as they please.

"So that means that our only path right now isn't out; it's up." Shikamaru paused for a moment before sending a glance around the silent group, though his gaze came back to linger meaningfully on Kiba's fear-flushed face. "Alright? Are we agreed?" He gently insisted.

Hesitantly, the group nodded, though as always it seemed, Naruto was the first to recapture his bravado. Bringing his finger up to his nose and scraping his fingernail against the outside of his left nostril, he slowly grinned, saying with an ease that none in the room felt, least of all himself,

"Of course we're agreed. It's what we came here to do, ain't it? So if the only way is up, then let's find those damn stairs and get done with this creepy mission!"

Neji was about to agree with the boy, but before he could, Naruto turned around and took off toward one of the many doors this grand hall housed. With a sigh and a shake of his head, Neji heard Sasuke angrily shout at Naruto not to run off, even as he ran after him. Kiba, still shaken up from his unexpected assailant, meekly followed the group as they eventually caught up with Naruto, who had randomly run up to the third door on the left, and thrown it open. Naruto had hoped to find automatically the room with the stairs leading up to the top floor of the mansion, but instead, he was disappointed to see what looked like a dining hall, complete with a long table, perfectly set with fragile china, wine flutes filled a quarter of the way full with a deep red liquid, and blood red candles burning a wonderful cinnamon scent throughout the entire room. Strangely enough, even though the candles had been burning before Naruto opened the door, it looked as though no wax had begun melting as a result of the burning wicks.

There were three doors in this room; two on each side of the long table, and one all the way at the back of the hall, which had to be a good fifty feet from where they stood. With a frown, Naruto imagined that the stairs for some odd reason would be all the way at the back of the mansion. And the quicker they got there, the better it was for everyone. So before anyone else could say anything, Naruto took off once more at a dead run, toward the door farthest from him. He ignored for the moment the frustrated shouts of everyone else, knowing they'd soon eat their words when he told them he'd found the stairs. Just the thought made him grin to himself as he once more threw open the door when he got there.

But he was disappointed again. It was just another room, a lounge, it looked like, filled with chairs and rugs and whatever. Naruto didn't care. Without waiting for anyone else, Naruto scouted the next set of doors; four more, two just ahead, and two to his right; on a random whim, Naruto ran for the north most door on his right, grabbing the handle and tossing the door open again.

A library. More doors. To the left this time.

A study. More doors. Straight now.

Another lounge. Even more doors. With a frustrated grunt, Naruto chose the door closest to him and threw it open much harder than he had been before, only for his face to light up. There they were, in all their polished glory; the stairs to the second floor. With a triumphant yell, Naruto called back to the others,

"I found the stairs! Last one to the top's a coward!"

With a grin, Naruto broke into another run, using all of his speed to get him quickly up the stairs, laughing breathlessly as he reached the top. He bent at the waist, pushing his hands to his knees and trying to catch his breath, waiting eagerly to hear the sounds of pounding footsteps on the stairs behind him.

They never came.

*~*~*~* Meanwhile *~*~*~*

"NARUTO!" Sasuke's frustration at the golden haired boys' actions was clearly evident as he rushed through dining room, through the open door into what appeared to be a lounge. It barely took a second to catch Naruto's trail of wide open doors, so Sasuke's momentum never faltered; he barreled through one room and into the next, his brows furrowing in anger the further he had to run. How far could Naruto have gone? By the time he'd made it through too many rooms to keep an accurate count of, Sasuke finally slowed to a halt, looking around with a skeptical glare. It seemed like… he was back where they'd first come in; the foyer. But all the doors were shut, even though Sasuke knew for a fact that they'd left the doors open behind them, just as Naruto had.

Running a hand through his raven colored hair, Sasuke forced himself to sigh slowly, expelling the air from his lungs as if it were his anger embodied. Shaking his head, he turned around, planning on following the open doors back to the rest of the group.

Only to be met with a door smashing into his nose. A sharp stab of pain spiraled from his nose to every part of his aching head, causing him to jump back in shock. His hands flew up to hold his nose even as he backed away from the door, now oddly closed. But a tickling sensation on the palm of the hand held to his nose confused Sasuke enough to pull his hand away, only to curse loudly. Blood.

*~*~*~* Meanwhile *~*~*~*

"NARUTO!" they heard Sasuke yell.

Shikamaru shook his head, thinking to himself about how much those two might very well jeopardize the mission just by that one yell. There was really nothing else they could do, though. Shikamaru, Kiba, and Neji walked at a normal pace, coming closer to the end of the dining room when a loud, wooden 'thunk' was heard. Neji was the first to spin around with his high reflexes, but Shikamaru soon saw exactly what had caught Neji's attention. The door that they'd come into the dining room from had somehow been shut.

They all paused for a moment, Neji himself wondering exactly what had happened; he hadn't felt any breezes while in the main hall, nor were any of the windows in the dining room open. So that left the possibility that someone had to have closed the door; which in turn, meant whoever they, were knew that the ninja were here. With a grimace, Neji began walking toward the door that was just shut, planning on either opening it again, or breaking it down, if it was locked. But the second he took his first step toward the door, the light coming from the beautiful chandelier on the roof of the room, hanging over the table; burst.

Glass scattered violently around the three boys as they ducked and yelped from the sudden destruction, and it left the only light in the room to the many candles, still burning in all their perfection on the dining room table. Neji slowly stood back to his full height, his wide gaze moving from where the chandelier had been, to where it now was, all over them and the floor. But his gaze soon returned to the closed door, and his grimace fell back to his lips, turning them heavily downward. Something was happening; something none of them could have ever imagined, and Neji was going to get straight to the bottom of it. He took another step forward toward the door, only to pause, listening to Kiba's words from behind him.

"Maybe you shouldn't do that… Let's just… get out of here. Find Naruto and Sasuke."

With a frustrated sigh, Neji glanced over his shoulder to reply, "Then go find Naruto and Sasuke. I want to check on something."

As Neji continued to walk back across the room, Shikamaru shivered; not because he was afraid ( Well, maybe he was, just a little, but there was no way he was going to admit it at this moment in time.. ) but with widened eyes, he realized his shiver came because a small wind had started up at his back. Before he could turn around to figure out where exactly the wind was coming from and why, the soft breeze turned into a hard gust, almost pushing Shikamaru forward.

And blowing the candles out, one by one, as though the wind was chasing Neji down the hall. It caught Neji's attention too, but by the time he turned, he was already at the edge of the table, and so was the wind; but instead of just blowing out the last candle, it seemed to topple it onto the pretty table cloth.

Seconds later, half the table was in flames.

*~*~*~* Meanwhile *~*~*~*

After Naruto had caught his breath, he raised himself from his slightly bent position, all the while wondering why exactly he hadn't heard any of his friends coming up the stairs behind him. As he turned around, expecting to be able to jog lightly down the stairs again to find those slow pokes who had let him pull so far ahead, Naruto realized with a shock that there was nothing but a polished floor and a long hallway stretching out before him.

Not for the first time that night, he felt his hands become moderately clammy. What the hell was going on in this place...? Naruto shook his head, trying to get his thoughts in order. He'd been looking for the stairs; he found the stairs. He went up the stairs and then the stairs were just... gone. Poof.

It had to be some sort of trick. Naruto closed his eyes for a moment, taking a small breath. Maybe when he opened his eyes he'd see the stairs. Maybe his mind was just playing tricks on him in this creepy place. Or maybe he was dreaming; this sort of shit always happened in those damn nightmares, didn't they? Yeah, that was it. Naruto was going to open his eyes and find he was lying in his bed. Now he didn't feel so bad.

With a small, relieved smile, Naruto slowly reopened his eyes, only to yelp and throw himself to the side; not only had he still been in the mansion, on the second floor after running up the stairs that just weren't there anymore, but he'd opened his eyes soon enough to see an arrow whisking straight for him. With his reaction time, Naruto was able to mostly get out of the way of the deadly arrow, but a sickening squelch along with the ripping sound of his jacket sleeve, as well as the white hot pain that shot through his right arm announced that the arrow didn't completely miss him.

The golden haired boy landed on his right shoulder on the polished floor, skidding a few inches as he did so. His groan of shock and pain filled the silent hall as he reached up to the arm the arrow had embedded itself in, only to wince and hiss at the pain that came from even slightly touching it. Panting, Naruto slowly pulled himself up to the wall into a sitting position, noticing with disdain how his body was shaking finely. It was only then that he began to examine exactly what had been done.

The arrow itself was wooden, but there was a steel arrowhead on it; the wood looked like it was old and rotted out, like it had been decaying over several, several decades, and despite the force that the arrow had probably been given, it hadn't gone all the way through his arm; instead, it had gone through all of the muscle on the underside of his arm, to the point where just a quarter of an inch of the steel arrowhead was peeking out in a haze of red ooze that quickly stained his jacket.

Naruto whimpered slightly, both at the pain, and knowing that it had to come out. But the second he actually gripped the wooden part of the arrow, it broke. There wasn't even a snap of the wood to announce it; it just came away like something that wasn't even attached in the first place. And it left the arrow head embedded in his arm, still. Naruto threw the wood onto the floor in frustrated pain, his entire body shaking violently now, only to watch it splinter out, cascading over the polished floor in several directions. Flimsy. Deadly.

Giving a yell of frustration, Naruto slammed his fist into the ground, only to pull it back quickly as a sharp, unforgiving jolt of molten agony barreled through his entire arm; for his second of anger, Naruto had forgotten that even though the arrow's body was gone, the arrowhead was still in his arm, and DAMN did it hurt like a bitch. Even though he was sitting on the ground, he had almost lost his balance and leaned dangerously far to one side; he tried to catch himself, but his arm was just too weak and painful, sending scorching waves of pain through his entire arm with every second pressure was applied to it, and Naruto ended up face planting the floor.

For a second, he sprawled there, panting and close to tears from the intense pain. It wasn't real. It couldn't be happening. This couldn't be happening. It seemed to become a chant to Naruto as he laid there, unwilling and unable to move for a few seconds. But even he knew it was real, and that he couldn't lie there forever. Gritting his teeth, Naruto pushed all of his weight onto his good arm and forced himself into a kneeling position, though he kept his forehead on the cool floor. At least it felt slightly good, compared to the agony he was currently... and would be facing...

Slowly, taking care not to use his right arm too much, but still brushing the afflicted area and pulling at the drying blood, Naruto took off his orange jacket, leaving him in his black undershirt, which luckily enough, the sleeve ended just above where the arrow had pierced him. With shaking hands, Naruto used his right fingers to tenderly grip the quarter of an inch of the steel arrow head that was sticking out of the back of his arm, wincing slightly in the pain that came from just that small action.

Naruto then took a deep, steadying breath, noticing grimly how even his breath was trembling as he expelled the air. Then he yanked on the arrow.

And screamed.

The steel moved slowly, cutting through his flesh, causing a new fountain of blood to seemingly open up, trickling down his arm in a steady wave of crimson ooze, pooling around his arm; but he didn't stop. The pain flooded his entire body like he'd been lit on fire, but he couldn't stop. Inch by slow, agonizing inch, Naruto tried to pull the arrowhead out of its snug prison, only to cry out sharply as his fingers fumbled with the bloodied and slick steel, coated with his blood. The sharp steel gashed two of his fingers open as they slipped, sending more sparks of pain through his agony riddled body.

It took three attempts, each time tearing up his hand even more trying to get the arrowhead out, before the steel finally ripped through his flesh all the way, sending flecks of blood scattering about on the polished floor, not to mention a fresh wave of that thick crimson liquid cascading down his arm into the sticky pool beneath his arm. The steel arrow made a sharp clanging noise as Naruto threw it to the floor, filling the semi silence along with Naruto's heaving pants. And for the longest time, Naruto just laid there, holding his arm.

Crying from the pain.


	3. No Way Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shadowy wolves and wildfire made by non-existent winds... the Haunted House just got upgraded to Demonic Death Trap.

Sasuke continuously let out a soft string of curses, his hand still halfway holding his nose, though the blood had long dried by now. He paced the floor, trying to think of what was happening, and how to get out of it. He was sure that he'd followed Naruto's path completely, and he'd known the dobe hadn't come all the way around the mansion; it hadn't been a long enough trek for that. But yet… here he was, and with no Naruto. Sasuke's scowl deepened as he threw his hands into the air. No matter how much time he spent thinking about this, it wasn't going to help. With a frustrated sigh, Sasuke closed his eyes for a moment, trying to decide on a course of action, willing the answer to the riddle that was this odd mansion to pop out in front of him and lead him out.

Nothing happened.

Finally, Sasuke's eyes re-opened and he started down the long, entrance hallway, trying to see if there was anything he could use, perhaps as a marker to show him where he'd been already, some string; anything. There was only one thing that he found, however, and that was halfway down the hall. A low, ominous growl from behind Sasuke caused him to stop walking, a slight shiver traveling up his spine at the odd sound. For a split second, Sasuke thought about just continuing to walk on; that perhaps nothing had made the sound at all. That it had just bee his imagination fooled by this creepy mansion.

The sounds of nails scraping on the polished floor dissolved that thought and caused Sasuke to spin around, only to see a black, flame like shape of a dog type animal. There was little detail that Sasuke could see from the burning blackness of its outline, but the eyes… the eyes were glowing red, menacing and blood-thirsty. It was in full run, each of its paws as it hit the floor creating the sound that made him turn around finally, and the growl was still emanating from it.

Vicious.

For a split second, Sasuke couldn't move, as though holding its eyes had somehow paralyzed him, but the second the beast opened its jowls, close enough that Sasuke could now see its sharp fangs, his legs finally burst into action, propelling him to the side just as the beast lunged. Nails scraped Sasuke's left shoulder, the ripping sound of his sleeve echoing out around the two combatants. Sasuke didn't wait to see if the beast's nails could slice his flesh as easily as they sliced the fabric of his shirt. He rolled into his dive, picking himself up as quickly as the beast landed and rounded itself, and was after Sasuke as he thrust out his hand to the nearest door handle and turned.

Locked.

Sasuke's eyes widened, but he turned himself back around, as quickly as the beast came upon him again, but this time, Sasuke thrust his leg out, catching the dog like creature on its muzzle, sending it to the side with a whining growl. Sasuke knew though, he hadn't hurt it much, so he took off again, this time to the opposite side of the hall, hearing with a sense of dread as the creature quickly picked itself back up again. But to Sasuke's dismay, the next door he tried was locked. It was all he could do to keep the creature at bay, but if he couldn't get out, then he was as good as dead.

Sasuke shuddered; that was a thought he didn't need.

One more door; that was all he needed. He'd bust it down if he had to, but he had to try one more door. The beast was nearly upon him again, and so Sasuke tried to kick it like he had before, but it seemed as though the creature was as smart as he was vicious. Sasuke's kick connected to its muzzle again, but not before its front paw came down in a malicious arc, creating a deep gash in Sasuke's trousers and thigh, causing the boy to scream out in pain, his kick losing a little momentum, and not sending the beast as far as he would have hoped. Sasuke gritted his teeth, his entire body shuddering with adrenaline and pain, but he couldn't stop; he couldn't wait.

He forced himself to the next door over, chanting over and over in his mind as a mantra, 'Don't be locked. Don't be locked.' His fingers came down on the handle, fumbled, and turned.

*~*~*~* Meanwhile *~*~*~*

Neji's fingers fumbled with the handle of the locked door, jiggling it in vain. The fire rose to astounding heights, licking at the ceiling and blazing all the way across the hall, cutting off any path between Neji and the two ninja on the other side of the room. Hell, he couldn't even see them through the red blaze and black smoke filling what parts of the room the flame didn't yet reach. It was already spiraling overhead as Neji's hands frantically worked the bronze handle, trying to somehow make it come loose, even as his widened gaze was riveted on the ever burning fire, moving closer and closer to his location with every second.

Neji could feel the heat of the flame pushing against his skin, and the sweat starting to pour not just from his forehead, but from every other crevice of his body. Was he… actually going to die? Here, like this…? A faint sound could be heard over the roar of the fire, sounding like Kiba, but the words he shouted were indistinct and unable to be made out clearly. Either way, they had their intended effect; Neji instantly snapped to attention, turned away from the fire and started working more feverishly on the door, pushing and kicking, putting all of his hard earned strength into somehow getting the door to open for him.

The fire raged behind him, crawling steadily closer and closer, and no matter how much strength Neji put into his efforts, it wouldn't budge, even when Neji felt a sudden, overwhelming sensation of pure agony at his back, causing him to arch forward, a gasp spilling from his lips as the fire reached him. The burning became quickly traumatic, scorching and filling his body with the absolute, terrifying realization that his flesh was melting. With one final burst of effort and tears of agony in his eyes, Neji thrust his entire body at the door, expecting to be bounced back into the flame and lost forever.

But the door cracked and groaned against his weight, and swung open in that second, causing Neji to fall out onto the clear, polished floor, his breathing quick and heavy as survival instinct kicked in and he began to try to crawl away from the burning sensation, still at his back. It was getting worse, his entire body trembling from the pain and the way it seemed to stab into him from all corners now, ebbing his life away in a blaze of anguish. With one final attempt to control it, Neji flipped himself onto his back with what strength he had left in his body, the coolness of the floor beneath him instantly soothing the raging burn that had long since sunk into even his bones.

From this angle, Neji could see through the still open door, the fire that had almost taken him still making its way toward his laying form, and tears formed in his eyes. Even though he'd made it out, it was still going to consume him and everyone here, wasn't it? It was… useless. There was nothing anyone could do now. But while Neji's thoughts turned dark, and settled on a bitter acceptance that death was their only path now, his eyes widened as slowly, the blaze began to recede, before burning itself out completely, leaving the dining room exactly as it had been before; pristine, beautiful, all with burning candles placed perfectly in a line, one by one, down the center of the table with it's pretty tablecloth.

Neji's entire body was shaking, his wide eyes staring at the perfect and empty room, even as the door he'd barely made it out of slowly began closing on its own. When it shut, it did so softly. The gentle click of the handle sliding into place, however, sounded more like a gunshot to Neji.

*~*~*~* Meanwhile *~*~*~*

"Neji! Get out of there!" Kiba cried over the roar of the fire.

Akamaru was barking wildly along with him from inside Kiba's jacket, more out of alarm than intimidation. Kiba's hands went around the front of his jacket, trying to make sure his dog didn't jump out and into the fire, though he doubted his partner would be so stupid as to do that. Still, as the sweat trickled down Kiba's neck, he found one foot moving forward, and the other slowly following it, pushing him further into the room, and towards the flame; towards Neji. The path was mostly cut off by the blazing wall of fury, but there was still a little space. If he hurried, then maybe…

Kiba jumped as a hand came down on his shoulder, pulling him backward and causing him to spin around, thinking someone had come up behind him and meant to throw him into the fire; so it was with a relieved and heavy sigh that Kiba's eyes found Shikamaru behind him, holding him back. But his relief only lasted for a moment, because the next second, he began arguing with Shikamaru, trying to get him to let go.

"Neji's still in there! If we don't do something, -!"

"Calm." came Shikamaru's reply, his grip never wavering even as he tried to pull Kiba back. "Neji can take care of himself. There's a door on the other side of the room; Neji will be fine. What we need to do is get out of here and find something to quell the fire with. Otherwise, this entire mansion might come down on us."

Kiba's panicked gaze centered on Shikamaru's own worried, but calm gaze for a moment, before Kiba slowly nodded. With one last glance at the huge wall of fire, the two turned their backs on the dining room, moving out as quickly as they could. But before Shikamaru could reach for the door to close it, to give them even a few more seconds against the blaze, the door itself slammed forcefully shut in his face, causing him to jump back in surprise. And just like that, the constant roar of the flames died down to absolute silence, causing Kiba and Shikamaru to share an astounded look.

When Shikamaru tried the door again, it wouldn't budge.


End file.
